Merry Christmas!!! | “For You Is Born This Day” | (Luke 2:1–14)

Tonight, we come together in the stillness of this holy night, a night unlike any other, a night that has changed the world forever. It’s the night when heaven came down to earth, when eternity entered time, when God became one of us.

And notice, it didn’t happen in a palace or a temple. It happened quietly in a small town, in the middle of the night, light broke into the darkness, in a place where there was hardly any room.

This is how our God comes: not with noise or power, but with love and humility.

St. Luke begins the story almost like a history book:

In those days, a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be enrolled.

It sounds like government paperwork, doesn’t it? Yet the Fathers remind us, even this was part of God’s plan. St. John Chrysostom said that God used the will of an emperor to guide Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem, the city of David, where the Messiah had to be born.

God uses even the machinery of empire, even human plans and politics, to bring about His will.
And He still does that in our lives, too. Even when things seem out of control, even when we can’t see His hand, He is quietly guiding all things toward grace.

And He still works through the ordinary events of our lives through jobs, family stress, traffic, even the things we don’t understand. Because nothing is beyond His reach.

See how quietly and humbly God enters our world: the eternal Son allows Himself to be enrolled in Caesar’s census, counted among the subjects of an earthly power, so that we who were slaves to sin might be made free.

He is born in Bethlehem – the House of Bread – for He Himself is the Bread of Life who will feed our souls in the Eucharist. The manger, a feeding place for animals, points to the altar where Christ nourishes His people. And this mystery does not remain in the past.

St. Gregory the Great said “In Bethlehem, God’s infinite love becomes visible and tangible — He becomes food for us. When He was born, He was laid in a manger so that He might nourish with the wheat of His flesh … all the faithful, so that they may not be left hungry for the food of eternal knowledge.

St. Bede tells us something beautiful: It was fitting, that our Lord was born in Bethlehem, not only as a mark of the royal crown, but on account of the sacrament of the name. Bethlehem, “the house of bread,” signifies both humility and abundance, pointing forward to the life He would give, the spiritual sustenance He would provide, and the transformative identity He would bestow on all who receive Him

He also tells us, “But down to the very end of time, the Lord ceases not to be conceived at Nazareth, to be born at Bethlehem. Whenever we take in the “flour of the Word,” whenever we listen to the Gospel and let it shape our hearts, we become a Bethlehem, a “house of bread,” a place where Christ can live. Christ is conceived at Nazareth and born at Bethlehem in the heart of every believer. Daily in the Virgin’s womb, i.e. in the mind of believers, Christ is conceived by faith, born by baptism.

What does that mean? Nazareth is where the Word was first received by Mary, so Christ is conceived in us when we listen to God’s Word and believe it. Bethlehem means “House of Bread” and Christ is born in us when our faith becomes real and visible, especially through the sacraments, most of all in the Eucharist.

The mind of a believer becomes like Mary’s womb: when we welcome the Word with faith, Christ begins to live in us. And when we are baptized, and when we receive Communion, Christ is born in us, He becomes living, active, present, transforming our hearts from within.

If we let His Word take root in us, Christ will continue to come into our world through our kindness, our patience, our forgiveness, our love. Let us ask today to be a Bethlehem: a place where Jesus finds room, where He can be born again, and where His presence can shine gently and quietly into the lives of those around us.

So, Christmas is not just something we remember, it is something we allow. Christ wants to be born in you. He wants your heart to become a Bethlehem, a place where the Bread of Life dwells, nourishes, and shines for others. All that is needed is the same “yes” that Mary gave.

And who are the first to hear the news?

Not the powerful, not the religious elite but shepherds. Rough men, working through the night, keeping watch over their flocks.

The angel did not go to Jerusalem, nor to the scholars, nor to the religious elite he went to shepherds. God chose to reveal His glory first to simple, humble hearts.

St. Gregory tells us that it was no accident the angels appeared to shepherds. They were awake, watching over their flock with care, and so they were found ready to receive the light of God.

Those who watch over others with love are given the grace to see God more clearly. Parents who rise in the night to comfort a child, those who care for the sick or elderly, friends who stay attentive to those who suffer, these are today’s shepherds. And just as the glory of the Lord shone around the shepherds in the fields, so God’s grace surrounds those who quietly and faithfully care for others.

To them, the angel says: “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy: today in the city of David, a Savior has been born for you.”

And suddenly, heaven opens and the angels sing: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to people of good will.”

The angels say, “Peace to men of good will,” meaning to those who welcome Christ, believe in Him, and desire His ways. Those who reject God cannot have this peace, for peace is rooted in loving His name.

The peace of Christmas is not simply quiet, comfort, or absence of conflict. It is the peace of being reconciled to God. It is given to those who welcome Christ—to hearts ready to surrender, to trust, to love.

St. Augustine once said, “He was born so that we might be reborn.”

Every Christmas is a new beginning. If we let Him, Christ can be born again in our hearts, in our families, in our world.

“If we let ourselves be touched by the tenderness of God, everything changes.”

So tonight, let that happen. Let Christ be born in you again.

So, as we kneel at the manger tonight, hear again the angel’s song: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace.”

Because tonight, God is not far away. He is here – Emmanuel + God with us.

Here in this church, here in this Eucharist, here in your life.

And that’s the miracle of Christmas: Love has come, and it will never leave us.

May His peace reign in your hearts tonight and always.

Merry Christmas.🎄🎁

✍ Fr James Abraham